Superman #16 (April 1988)

When the Crisis on Infinite Earths rebooted the history of Superman, it was seen as an opportunity to discard some elements of the character's mythos that were seen as 

The story begins in Metropolis, naturally enough. It's also a very special week, as it's the week...of Christmas!

(woo-hoo)

It's a time of reflection, which is something even Superman is not immune to. As the Metropolis Marvel flies over the city, he thinks about the year he's had. He's faced off against the likes of Mr. Mxyzptlk, the Millenium crisis, Brainiac, and the like. Thankfully, the last few days have actually been pretty calm. Until Superman looks down and notices something funny about the snow.

Page 32, Panel 1

Yeah, it turns out some of the snow is actually soap flakes.

(huh)

The soap makes the roads slippery, which results in the Man of Steel having to save a bus from sliding out of control...which results in them crashing into a wall.

(ouch)

Elsewhere, Jimmy Olsen is setting his VCR to tape the "Uncle Oswald Show", one of his favorite programs, and he ended up catching one of Morgan Edge's anti-Superman editorials. That's a whole thing. His mother reminds him that he's going to be late for work. Again. 

(tick tock)

Jimmy thinks his mother needs to find a hobby or a boyfriend or something to occupy her time, so she'll get off his case. He goes to visit a homeless friend of his, then takes a ride on the subway, only for the ride to end...unusually.

Page 35, Panel 1

Elsewhere in the city, Lois Lane calls for a taxi. She's in a rush to the Daily Planet, so she wants the driver to step on it. And step on it he does, driving at ludicrous speed like he's a madman or something. But the driver is no madman.

Page 36, Panel 2

He's a Prankster. Perry White enters the Daily Planet building and sees it's practically empty.

(where is everybody)

He learns that the night shift all left, and the day shift folks aren't here yet. Looks like everyone is late. Yeah, thanks to the freak EMP that knocked out most of the clocks in Metropolis for an hour... 

(facepalm)

Superman is left wondering who is behind this. This may be the Joker's style, but it's not likely he'd show his pasty self in Metropolis again. It can't be Mr. Mxyzptlk, as it hasn't been 90 days since his last appearance in Superman #11. It's likely someone new. But who? And why?

(Hmmm...)

Well, we know who, at the very least. And Lois Lane is going to end up finding out the why. This new version of the Prankster is actually a children's show host named Oswald Loomis. He's known as "Uncle Oswald", and his show was in the vein of Captain Kangaroo. For twenty-five years, Oswald's show entertained children all over the country. But times are changing, and kids of the then-present 1980s are more interested in the action cartoons of the era. Oswald is infuriated by this, as he sees these cartoons as nothing more than mindless glorified toy commercials. Thank Reagan for that, Ozzie.  

Lois points out that Oswald's show had been the object of controversy, as it was seen as a very violent show. This enrages Oswald, as he thinks it was just overreaction. Pies in the face, exploding whoopie cushions. Based on this, yeah. I've seen Wile E. Coyote cartoons more violent than pies in the face. 

It's revealed that Oswald is in the studio used to film his show, and a couple workers are calling Morgan Edge to get him out of there. Edge'll take care of it, after he's done with another meeting.

Page 40, Panel 6

Heh. Superman's history may have been rebooted by the Crisis, but some things never change. Elsewhere, Superman encounters a big rubber flower that gives him an unscheduled bath.

Page 41, Panel 4

Lois asks Oswald to tell his story, including explaining how he got all the stuff to perform his pranks. That's a simple one. Over the years, Loomis got lots of gifts from his show's sponsors, practically an unlimited supply of popcorn, soap flakes, toys for raw materials, and all of that. However, as it goes with long-running shows, his ratings began to decline. As such, Morgan Edge threatened to cancel his show and replace it with a cartoon block. I can imagine that Edge would also want to do that for cost reasons. I presume it would be cheaper to run a block of animated programming than pay for the costs of a show like "Uncle Oswald". 

(just saying)

Thing was, Oswald saw this coming. Even 25 years earlier, when he started the "Uncle Oswald" gig, he was savvy enough to the attitudes and realities of television. He knew the ride would not last forever, so he started planning and stockpiling. And he's doing it all for attention. 

(seriously) 

Yeah. Kids these days want spectacle, so ol' Oswald's going to give them spectacle, alright! Morgan Edge pounds at the door, demanding he open the door. Loomis opens a door for him, alright: a trap door. A trap door that sends him flying out of the building. Thankfully, Superman was flying by and saves Edge from becoming street pizza. The Metropolis Marvel then bursts his way into Oswald's studio, but Oswald has a surprise for the Man of Steel. He surrenders. 

Later, it's established that all the pranking, everything, was just a massive setup just to get publicity and profit. Thing is, he kidnapped Lois and his little trap door trick could have gotten Morgan Edge killed. He committed capital crimes. Not to mention the state has a "Son of Sam" law that would have made it impossible for him to profit from his crimes. Lois is informed that the Prankster has escaped. She then gets a call from the Prankster, who just blows her a raspberry and hangs up laughing. 

We next move to Antartica, seven hours later. A Navy helicopter has picked up something hot under the Antarctic ice. A crew goes to check it out and finds something surprising.

Page 51, Panel 5

Seems not even DC editorial can keep a good Supergirl down for long.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 8. Thanks for reading this blog entry!